Many forms of digital content contain audio content. For example, electronic books, audiobooks, music, movies, and computer games may all contain audio content. This audio content may include, for example, one or more spoken portions. Typically, this audio content is pre-recorded and cannot be customized by a consumer of the content. Rather, an entirely new recording of the audio content is often necessary to produce customized audio content. It may not be possible to obtain a new recording custom-tailored to a user's listening interests for any number of reasons. For example, the cost of producing a new recording of the audio content may be prohibitive. It might also be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive for the user to customize the audio content exactly to his or her liking: the user might have to oversee the production of the new recording of the audio content, for example.
An example will be illustrative. A user may be interested in purchasing an audiobook that is narrated by a certain narrator. The user may prefer a different narrator's voice for the audiobook. The user may also desire to listen to the audiobook in another language. In the former case, the user might have to pay for a brand new recording of the audiobook done by his or her preferred narrator. In the latter case, the user might have to pay for both a translation of the audiobook and for a new recording of the audiobook in the other language. The user may want to customize other aspects of the narration as well, but may find it impractical to do so.
These problems may be compounded when many users request the customization of content in different ways. For example, one user may desire one set of modifications to an audiobook narration, while a second user desires a second set of modifications to the same audiobook narration. It may not be economically feasible to cater to the tastes of both users because of the costs of recording modified or customized narrations. Of course, these problems and others are not merely limited to audiobook content, but are present in many forms of digital content that include audio content.